I Never Opened My Heart
by E.S Hart
Summary: DISCONTINUED. GABPAY.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer(s): I do not own High School Musical or any related characters. All characters are property of Disney. I do, however, own Rose Lake Villa. Also, the story will be a mix of the first movie and the second, but with a Gabpay twist and pretty much way different. I just took a few key plot points from the second, such as the talent show. The songs will mostly be from the first. And - if Gabpay isn't your thing and disturbs you at all, turn away now. No one is forcing you to read this.

I never believed in

What I couldn't see

I never opened my heart

To all the possibilities.

**- The Start Of Something New**

The sun dripped down the clear blue sky like a freshly cracked egg, blinding yellow-white rays melting into the horizon in a sticky mass. The air was thick with heat and moisture, the still surface of Rose Lake casting a blinding reflection around the whole camp site. Sharpay Evans shifted as a trickle of sweat ran down her back, following the indentation of her spine. Her perfectly tanned legs stuck to the cheap plastic of the lawn chair, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste, pulling her sunglasses down her face to shoot her twin a look.

"Ryan, trade me chairs." She pouted like a professional, lifting one leg slightly and wincing as it made a sharp 'smack' sound when her flesh peeled from the surface. Her brother merely ignored her, turning over in his own lawn chair to insure an even tone. "Ryan!" She smacked her hand on the arm rest of her chair, gasping in shock as the cheap plastic cracked right down the middle.

"You shouldn't have spent all of your birthday money on shoes, Little Sister." The blonde boy smirked. Though he was only four minutes older than his sister, Ryan loved rubbing in the fact that he would always be the oldest. It was the only part of their lives where he had anything that vaguely resembled power over Sharpay. She was the most popular girl in school, President of the Drama Society, serial class president, and reigning home coming queen for three years running. The blonde bombshell, known far and wide for her snooty attitude, overshadowed her brother and everyone else at East High without even trying. She was, in a word, perfect.

"When you die alone and are standing at the gates of heaven trying to talk your way in, look back on this moment." She huffed, examining a nail that had chipped during her attack on her lawn chair. "Sorry, God," She said in a more feminine voice than her usual, mocking her flamboyant brother. "I just couldn't bare to do something for my sister who single handedly saved me from slipping into the hands of social catastrophe."

"Leave it, Sharpay." He glared at his sister from behind his Dolce and Gabbana shades. The pianist responsible for acting as the glue that held all of EHS's musical productions together, Kelsi Neilson, had been Ryan's best friend when the Evan's twins had transferred from West High. The two of them shared a love for musical theater, soy peppermint lattes, and whacky hats - but Sharpay, intent on ruling the school, had forbidden her brother from bonding with someone of such a low social standing outside of rehearsals.

"I'm just saying, bro. You owe me." The Ice Princess, as she'd come to be known, sat up in her flimsy chair, pulling a bottle of ridiculously expensive tanning oil from her bag and reapplying it to her legs. The Evans family had owned property at Rose Lake since the twins were pre-pubescent, so it was nothing but hours of lounging by the water and perfecting their tans for the musical duo during summer vacations. It was expected of Sharpay to be the tannest, without looking Fake Baked. She had standards to live up to.

"You're right, Shar." Ryan deliberately used the nickname he knew his baby sis detested. "Thanks," He said with a faux grin. "for losing me a friend and single handedly making both of us look like the snobbiest bitches to blow onto the scene since Paris and Nicky Hilton."

"Please," Sharpay scoffed, completely ignoring the point - per usual. "We are so hotter than those two."

"Well, one of us is." He crossed his arms.

"Aw, well I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but acceptance is the first step." She stood from the chair, stepping out of her stylish sandals and taking of her sunglasses, tossing them into her bag. Patting him on the head she sashayed away, pausing to look back at him with a condescending glare before diving into the crystal clear water of Rose Lake, her lean body a perfect arch. Ryan watched her with a look of distaste. He'd had about enough of Sharpay and her diva dilemmas.

Leaning back in his smartly purchased chair, Ryan let his eyes drift closed, the heat from the early July sun soaking into every fiber of him. Birds were chirping in the evergreens that had been planted and meticulously cared for around the lake, creating the kind of serene water going experience that you had to pay to enjoy in this day and age. On the other side of the water a family was splashing around, a little girl getting her first ever swimming lessons while her older brother ran around happily terrorizing everyone around them with his super soaker. The sounds of their joy, their laughter, floated across the lake in a soft melody, reaching Ryan's ears and making him smile. Faint splashing was the only evidence of his sisters existence in this moment, and frankly, that was the way he liked it.

The past seventeen years had been hell for him but no more. No, this was going to be the summer that it all changed. The summer that Ryan Evans finally out shined his snobby sister once and for all. The guests of Rose Lake Villa, a country club almost as snobby as his twin, held the Sizzling Summer Talent Show every year and he could feel it - this year was going to be his year. He'd been choreographing a routine for months, having just perfected his new twist on a crowd favorite, the Jazz Square. This was the year, Sharpay was going down.

-INOMH-

"Jonah, stwop!" The shrill laughter of a toddler reached Sharpay's ears as she floated serenely across the glassy surface of the lake, the soft treading of her hands the only movement on the smooth surface. Cracking one eye open in irritation, she cast a side long glance at the other occupants of the lake, she saw a little girl with bouncing blonde pigtails getting twirled around by her brother. The two were all grins and even though she was asking him to stop, the little girl clung for dear life, not wanting to stop at all in fact, but loving spending some fun time with her family. Sharpay snapped her eye shut once more, doing her best to tune out the ruckus. She was supposed to be relaxing, finding her center so that she could be perfectly relaxed when school (and the fall musical) came around.

Family bonding was not a big to-do with the Evans clan. Sure, they did things together. They went on cruises and to fund raisers and smiled real pretty for the cameras that wanted to take pictures or Bruce Evans, chairman and CEO of the single highest selling Internet provider in North America. They held fancy dinners and owned homes in Vermont, California, Colorado and New Mexico - which was where they stayed permanently. Expensive cars, designer clothes, celebrity appearances were all things of the norm in the Evans house hold, but laughter, joking, just hanging out…well, not so much.

Sure, Ryan was her best friend. They had the same gift for theater, the same passion for fashion, the same eyes, but the whole 'sibling' thing gave them this juvenile need to always try and out do one another. Or at least, it did Ryan. _'I don't have to try.'_ Sharpay smirked as she glided around in the water nonchalantly._ 'I'm just naturally fabulous.'_

Bruce and Delilah Evans, though the perfect model parents to the outside world, were scarcely around. They spent fifty weeks out of the year on the go, promoting and advertising and attending functions. The few days when one of them could be seen around the house were usually spent locked in the den with a bottle of scotch and complaints about the teenager's noise. But they were honest, hard working people who kept her in Gucci, so Sharpay had learned to accept that she was just going to have to raise herself. Nannies came and went, butlers attempted to give her curfews and time tables, but none of it ever lasted. She was a natural born rebel, a natural born leader, and she knew what she wanted. Want. Take. Have. That was her philosophy and so far it had worked pretty damn well.

Who needed a family when you were a star? Not Sharpay, that was for sure.

"Hey, Dorothy, time to head back to the Emerald City." Ryan's voice echoed out to her.

"Shut it, Toto. Can't you see I'm relaxing?" The younger Evans twin was positive that her brother had mumbled something lame and unintelligible under his breath, but she didn't bother to call him on it. The water was cool on her back, the sun was warm on her stomach, and right now she wanted nothing more than to float away and never have to put up with Ryan again.

"Zzzzzzz." A loud mechanical whirring filled the serene air, drowning out the happy family across the way and her brother. Sharpay, so calm as she was, didn't bother to open her eye to investigate the disturbance, knowing it would only upset her. Which is why she didn't see the boat, the one that also didn't see her, and was headed straight for her fabulous and oblivious self.

"SHARPAY!"

-INOMH-

"Ohmigod, she's not breathing! Does she have a pulse? Someone check her pulse. Oh my god. I'm so sorry. We were just taking the boat out for a spin and we didn't even see…I mean didn't she hear us?" Someone was talking above her, but they sounded very far away. A voice she didn't know. A girl?

"You should have been watching where you were going!" Another voice, shriller and very angry. "This isn't just some playground for the help to run around whenever they feel in convenient, stealing boats that aren't theirs!"

"Stealing-" A third voice chimed in. Older, a man.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The second voice was being sarcastic now. "Borrowing without permission. Whatever you want to call it, what you were doing nearly killed my daughter!" Shrill and Sarcastic. _'Yep..'_ Sharpay's groggy mind managed to process. _'That's mom.'_

"She was in the boating zone! It's not my girl's fault that your little 'Princess here," She could actually here the air quotes as mister third voice spoke up again. "Didn't acknowledge the clearly marked swimming areas." He sounded ticked. "Rich people, think you own the whole damn world."

"I'll have you know, I pay good money for my family to be here and she will swim anywhere she damn well pleases!" Delilah again, this time shriller, probably digging around in her purse for those tacky French cigarettes she was always sucking down. "And if you have a problem with that you can take it up with the Lake Ranger, Mr.…?"

"Bolton. Greg Bolton. I'm the athletics coordinator around here. So trust me lady, I know the codes and the regulations. Your little Doberman here--"

"Sharpay." The first voice, the girl she didn't recognize, said softly. Sharpay could feel a smile wanting to tug at her lips, but every muscle in her body felt like they had been replaced with rocks. Her legs were stiff, a rock or stick or something poking her in the back of the knee very obnoxiously. Her arms were spread wide, the heat that she'd been so enjoying earlier now beating down on her so unforgiving that it made her want to curl up and vomit. Her eyelids felt like sand, the feeble attempts she was making at opening them to see what was going on falling flat.

"--so even if you wanted to sue, you can't!" The athletics guy was still yelling above her, voices not sounding so far away. She could hear her mother huff, the flick-flick-flick of a lighter igniting repeatedly speaking volumes of what she wasn't saying.

"Shouldn't we-" The girl was talking again.

"I'll damn well sue if I please!"

"On what basis? Huh? Not being the center of the universe for once?"

"Uhm, don't you guys think--" But they were completely ignoring her.

"Again, I pay to be. If I'm not getting what I pay for I'll sue for negligence. Not to mention endangering of my poor, innocent, unsuspecting daughter who your little Life Guard Barbie nearly killed playing sailor with Villa property!" The two adults dissolved into unintelligible yelling before being cut off by a surprising shout.

"Sharpay!" The girl said again, this time loudly enough to shut the two quarrelling adults up for good. "Sharpay, the girl you're fighting over, is still laying here not breathing. And you're arguing about money?" It was her turn to scoff. "Shame on you both." Then suddenly the suns bright glare that Sharpay could make out from behind her eyelids was blocked out by someone kneeling over her, soft hands pushing her dripping wet hair back from her face. She wanted to protest. _'Stop touching me!' 'Leave me alone!' _But the hands, gently, carefully, tilted her head back, propping her mouth open as was procedure for…

"Blechguhguh." Sharpay bolted up right, water spilling from her mouth as she coughed. Her head was still groggy, everything spinning momentarily as she planted her hands firmly on the rocks, trying to get her bearings. She felt dead. Worse than dead - she felt unattractive.

"Wha?" She tried to ask what happened, but only ended up gagging up more water, turning to the side and vomiting before she could stop herself. The remains of her Spinach and bean sprouts salad came up in the dainty gags, leaving her sweaty and gross feeling. Not to mention mortified beyond all belief. As she coughed up what was left of her lunch and tried to regain her breathing she could hear the parents bickering again. But she wasn't paying attention to them. A soft hand, the same one as before, was running small circles across her back, soothing her aching muscles.

"Just breathe." The girl said softly, her fingers tracing patterns across the blondes back. "Deep breaths, let it all out." Sharpay clenched her eyes shut, for once in her life listening to someone else and breathing deeply through her nose, spitting the taste of vomit from her mouth and onto the shore.

"Thanks." She heard herself wheeze.

"No problem." Finally opening her eyes, Sharpay was forced to snap them shut as the glare from the summer sun reached her unsuspecting eyes. She was feeling incredibly stupid right now, not just for getting run over, but for letting herself be so clueless and vulnerable around people she didn't know. Or around people at all.

"Here." The girl chuckled low in her throat, the sound soothing to Sharpay's ears as apposed to the fighting going on a few feet away, and she felt her sunglasses being carefully slipped over her eyes. Once more, more slowly this time, she let her eyes open, her gaze falling on her rescuer.

"Hi there." A gorgeous girl, maybe a year younger than herself, was grinning sheepishly back at her, a small hand darting up to tuck a stray lock of raven colored hair behind her ear. Her deep brown eyes were shining in embarrassment and apology. Sharpay just nodded once, taking a last deep breath and getting to her feet. She brushed her bikini bottoms off, noting with distaste that her suit was nearly ruined. Good thing she'd planned ahead and brought seventeen more.

"Mother." She snapped, getting the attention of the forty year old version of herself. Her voice sounded like gravel and she physically winced at the sound. "I'm fine. Can we just go back to the cabin?" Delilah's face instantly softened. The cigarette she'd been greedily smoking dropped to the ground between herself and Greg Bolton in a shower of orange sparks, nicotine fit forgotten. She shot him one more scathing glare before stalking over to her daughter and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"You'll be hearing from my lawyers." Was all she said to him before leading her little starlet away from the lake and back to the golf cart she'd ridden over here that would take them back to their cottage. Sharpay, still slightly disoriented, cast a last curious glance back at the brunette who was smiling at her hesitantly, before turning back to listen to her mother bitch about recklessness.

**-Well, what did you think? Reviews updates. :)**


	2. The Dream

Thanks for the feedback, it was greatly appreciated. This chapter is _really_ short. For which I appologize. Italics represent thoughts and the dream sequence.

Here's Chapter Two Of: I Never Opened My Heart.

"-that idiot thinks just because she's his daughter, that little Gabriella or whatever her name is-" The sounds of her mothers grating voice pierced through the cabin walls, reaching Sharpay's ears harshly and forcing her to roll over yet again. The place reeked of cigarettes and fake pine, turning her already unsettled stomach even more. Ever since they'd gotten back from the run in (literally!) with the Bolton family, Delilah had been shrieking and ranting about suing, pressing charges, calling the camp director. Sharpay had retreated to the safety of her bedroom, slamming the door closed with a satisfying shake before collapsing on the bed. It had been one of the most draining afternoons of her life and as her eye lids slid down over their glassy surface all she could think about was the color of her rescuers eyes. '_Gabriella._' She found the name cycling through her brain like a skipping cd. _'Gabriella. Gabriella. Gab-' _She wasn't sure if it was on the tenth or the ten-thousandth time she'd thought it when she fell asleep.

"_So, you're mom isn't really going to sue my dad, is she?" Gabriella brought the subject up casually, sipping her strawberry shake vigorously, the thick liquid refusing to rise through the tiny tube. She was so wrapped up in navigating her straw away from a dangerous chunk of berry, that she completely missed when the blonde walking beside her physically flinched._

"I don't think so. She'll probably get distracted by something shiny and alcoholic and forget all about it." She took a dainty sip of her vanilla shake before mumbling, "If she hasn't already." Fireworks exploded over head, the shower of multicolored sparks drowning out the rest of her sentence and commanding both of the girls attention. Bursts of reds, blues, and yellows graphitized the sky, creating a larger than life Light Bright in the sky. Gabriella stopped walking, starring up enraptured as the reflection danced across her eyes. All around them passersby were halting their movements, all taking a moment to look up into the colorful sky. A few feet away stood Ryan, gazing up at the sky with a grin of pure bliss. On his back, wearing a similar grin was East High's very own miniature pianist, Kelsi, clutching to Ryan in piggy back fashion. The two of them looked like two delirious children in a toy store and Sharpay felt a bubble of something she didn't recognize flow through her heart.

_Looking down, she found her own fingers to be tangled up in Gabriella's fist, the two of them holding hands like a couple of Junior High students. Her long pale fingers, ('Mother always said I should have been a pianist, but there's no limelight on the bench') laced seemingly perfect against the other girls. Gabriella's were rougher than Sharpay's, as if she'd had to work her whole life, or played a lot of guitar. The sensation was sending waves of fire up the Diva's arm and straight down to the apex of her thighs._

"_Ice Princess." Her attention was drawn from their locked hands as she heard the ever familiar taunt floating quietly through the nights sky. The fireworks, while still exploding high in the midnight mass of blackness, were now eerily silent. "Ice Princess." She looked up to see that it was Kelsi who was chanting to her, the grin of glee no longer present. "Selfish, Thankless, Whorish, Princess made of Ice. Can't lift a finger for fear of breaking a nail."_

"'_Ryan do this.' 'Ryan do that.'" It was her brother that was speaking now, glaring at her from beneath the brim of a pin striped fedora. "Can't do a thing for herself. You're entirely useless, Sharpay. That's why no one cares about you. That's why you need the spot light so badly, because it's your only friend. But even the light bulb has to burn out sometime."_

"_And when it does," Sharpay felt hot tears burning in her eyes as she ripped her gaze from Kelsi and Ryan to look at Gabriella. The brunette slowly untangled her hand from Sharpay's, taking a step back and moving next to the other two. She looked sad and disappointed and a new kind of feeling burst in Sharpay's heart. Regret, fear, pain. _

"_You're going to be all alone." Gabriella finished with a soft sigh._

"_All alone." Kelsi repeated, her usually angelic face now a satisfied smirk._

"_All alone." Ryan nodded. "All alone by her lonesome in the dark shadows of a theater house."_

"_Alone." The three chorused together. "Alone, alone, alone..!"_

"I don't want to be alone!" Sharpay bolted upright, her chest heaving as she struggled for breath. Her head was once again spinning, her body tingling all over as drips of sweat trickled down her already sticky flesh. The room was tilting on it's axis, pushing her out of the bed until she fell to the hard wooden floor in a heap. "No, no." She was still muttering as she kicked the tangled mass of blankets from her trembling legs. "No. Not alone."

"You okay in there?" Ryan's muffled voice came through the door, followed by a short knock. Dragging her hand across her sweaty forehead, Sharpay struggled to compose herself, clawing her way back up the her bed and swallowing hard. The taste of bile was still fresh in her mouth and she could feel the need to vomit overwhelming her for the second time that day.

Having not received his answer, Ryan gently twisted the knob of his sisters bedroom door, concern for his twin now inching up on him. Normally he would have relished at the thought of Sharpay being locked up in her room by herself, leaving his free to do as he pleased without getting barked at. But after what had happened today, after he'd seen her get caught up in the waves of that boat, he felt an older brother sort of protectiveness rising within him.

"I'm coming in." He warned as he pushed the door open, stepping into the room. The lights were off, the only illumination coming from the open window at the opposite end of the room, casting everything into a silvery shadow. Sharpay had been asleep for most of the afternoon, not that he could blame her but as he looked around, he found his twin sitting on her bed, eyes closed, in what looked to be a meditation position.

"What do you want, twerp?" She snapped at him, not bothering to open her eyes. She was hoping to drive him back downstairs before he could see what a mess she really was. The sweat that coated her body was cold from the fresh burst of air that had come with the opening of the bedroom door and it was making goose bumps rise on her arms and legs.

"Retract the claws, Sharpay. I was just worried about you. Not that you'd know anything about having actual feelings for another human being." He threw back before storming back out the way he'd come. It was just what she'd wanted him to do, but watching him go has still sent a shiver down her spine. The last words of her dream replayed in her head, "Alone, alone, alone..!" She shivered once more, pushing herself off of the bed and making her way, on shaky legs, to the shower. That was all she needed to shake this vulnerability that seemed to be plaguing her. A nice, not shower with some vanilla mint body scrub and Sutton Foster blasting full volume.

PeaceBug: Yes, that was rather short. I know, just a little over a thousand words. But I really just felt like this was where this chapter needed to end. I've already started the next and I'm really happy with where it's going. So yes, feedback is GREATLY appreciated. J


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